Cover Stories

The first thing you have to know about Michael "Big Mike" Straumietis is this—when he first started growing cannabis in his home state of Illinois, having up to 20 plants could get you six years in prison, 50 plants 10 years and more

Reggae star Pato Banton was in the midst of his biggest-ever tour—a global trek for Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD organization in 2000—when he learned that two of his sons had been injured in a drive-by shooting in his native England. He immediately

Anthony Bourdain is the great Trojan Horse of America’s cannabis movement—and may not even know it. Inadvertently or otherwise, the globe-trotting foodie is one of this country’s most charismatic and influential cannabis advocates. A

Photo by Maarten De Boer Lucy Lawless thinks before speaking. Only not, apparently, to consider what her publicist or manager might want her to say. For while she’s forever associated with fantasy action roles, the refreshingly opinionated Ash

The first thing you have to know about Michael "Big Mike" Straumietis is this—when he first started growing cannabis in his home state of Illinois, having up to 20 plants could get you six years in prison, 50 plants 10 years and more

Reggae star Pato Banton was in the midst of his biggest-ever tour—a global trek for Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD organization in 2000—when he learned that two of his sons had been injured in a drive-by shooting in his native England. He immediately

Anthony Bourdain is the great Trojan Horse of America’s cannabis movement—and may not even know it. Inadvertently or otherwise, the globe-trotting foodie is one of this country’s most charismatic and influential cannabis advocates. A

Photo by Maarten De Boer Lucy Lawless thinks before speaking. Only not, apparently, to consider what her publicist or manager might want her to say. For while she’s forever associated with fantasy action roles, the refreshingly opinionated Ash

Advocate Highlight

Name: Guy H. Rocourt Occupation: Chief Products Officer, Papa & Barkley When and how did you become an advocate for cannabis? My advocacy began in the 1990s while I was working for Montel Williams. Montel’s personal battle with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has led him to be a strong

Tunes

Denver is an exciting place to be in 2016, not just because of the wonderful opportunities and advancements popping up in the world of cannabis, but because of the growth and expansion of the culture in general. The music scene in this city is also a vibrant and changing place, and home to many up-and-coming musicians like local DJ and producer Berrik, AKA Davis Weimer, and his collective of underground dubstep musicians, Grease. Between

Industry Insider

Photos by Tonya Perme Photography Cannabis is finally legal in California. Take a breath. Shrug off the bad vibes of this contentious national election and focus on the positive. Now say it again. Cannabis is legal in California. But for policy wonks like Alex Zavell, getting cannabis legal may have been the easy part. The devil, as they say, is in the details. As a senior regulatory

If you had to sum up 20 years of medical cannabis regulation in California in a word, that word would be "chaos." Regulation is a patchwork of local rules varying from town to town, with patients, growers and collectives subject to the whims of mayors, city councils, district attorneys and sheriffs. What's legal in one county can get you thrown in jail in another. Meet the woman in charge

It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time not long ago when running a medical cannabis collective in California could be a very risky business. As a young attorney in 2008, Meital Manzuri didn’t know much about cannabis. But in those days of DEA raids on collectives and prosecution of patients, of erratic local regulations and haphazard crackdowns, she saw a glaring need. Many

The police had taken everything but the fertilizer. Amid the ruins of a long-ago bust, Michael “Big Mike” Straumietis was suddenly a cannabis grower with nothing left to sell. So in the spirit of “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” he turned to the nutrient-rich fertilizer, which he had concocted himself over years of cultivating, as a source of income. That decision would

The doctor was lost somewhere in Compton. It was 2008, during one of the first classes at a fledgling Oaksterdam University, and the lost doctor was supposed to be speaking about the benefits and use of medical cannabis. Dale Sky Jones wasn’t a doctor, nor had she stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before. But she did manage a group of medical-cannabis doctors in Orange County,

Tony Verzura of United Cannabis Back before there were cannabis dispensaries, as far as most enthusiasts were concerned, there were basically two types: “Schwag” and “kind bud.” It was the latter that helped a young Tony Verzura get off oxycodone and finally recover from a debilitating car accident. His appetite and sleep returned. The opioid side effects were gone, and eventually,

Photos by Tonya Perme Photography Cannabis is finally legal in California. Take a breath. Shrug off the bad vibes of this contentious national election and focus on the positive. Now say it again. Cannabis is legal in California. But for policy wonks like Alex Zavell, getting cannabis legal may have been the easy part. The devil, as they say, is in the details. As a senior regulatory

If you had to sum up 20 years of medical cannabis regulation in California in a word, that word would be "chaos." Regulation is a patchwork of local rules varying from town to town, with patients, growers and collectives subject to the whims of mayors, city councils, district attorneys and sheriffs. What's legal in one county can get you thrown in jail in another. Meet the woman in charge

It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time not long ago when running a medical cannabis collective in California could be a very risky business. As a young attorney in 2008, Meital Manzuri didn’t know much about cannabis. But in those days of DEA raids on collectives and prosecution of patients, of erratic local regulations and haphazard crackdowns, she saw a glaring need. Many

The police had taken everything but the fertilizer. Amid the ruins of a long-ago bust, Michael “Big Mike” Straumietis was suddenly a cannabis grower with nothing left to sell. So in the spirit of “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” he turned to the nutrient-rich fertilizer, which he had concocted himself over years of cultivating, as a source of income. That decision would

The doctor was lost somewhere in Compton. It was 2008, during one of the first classes at a fledgling Oaksterdam University, and the lost doctor was supposed to be speaking about the benefits and use of medical cannabis. Dale Sky Jones wasn’t a doctor, nor had she stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before. But she did manage a group of medical-cannabis doctors in Orange County,

Tony Verzura of United Cannabis Back before there were cannabis dispensaries, as far as most enthusiasts were concerned, there were basically two types: “Schwag” and “kind bud.” It was the latter that helped a young Tony Verzura get off oxycodone and finally recover from a debilitating car accident. His appetite and sleep returned. The opioid side effects were gone, and eventually,